Samsung’s Foldable Phone is Real and Opens into a Tablet

On Wednesday at Samsung’s fifth annual developer’s Conference (SDC) in San Francisco, the world got a glimpse of Samsung’s upcoming foldable phones which will be produced “in the coming months” they said.

When the foldable phone is fully open it’s a tablet and when closed it’s a phone. It was demonstrated by Justin Denison, Samsung senior vice-president of mobile marketing who said the new device will use a new display technology called Infinity Flex Display.

Infinity Flex Display will allow the user to open and close Samsung’s new device over and over without any diminishment.

“The Infinity Flex Display represents an entirely new mobile platform,” Denison said. “We’ve been living in a world where the size of your screen can only be as large as the device itself. We’ve added a new dimension to help you browse, watch and multitask like never before.”

It will have what Samsung calls a Multi-Active Window in which the foldable phone can run up to three apps at the same time and will be supported by Android according to Google’s Glen Murphy, head of Android UX. Samsung is also working on rollable and stretchable display technology.

“The success or failure of Samsung’s first folding phone will depend on how well Samsung has been able to button up the device.” CCS Insights analyst Ben Wood said. “If it’s a slick, attractively designed device it will be a magnet for gadget lovers. If it is bulky and hard to use it will be a tougher sell.”

When the device is closed you will see the Cover Display looking like a phone, its size will be 4.58 inches. It will have a 21:9 aspect ratio and a resolution of 840×1960 with a screen density of 420 dpi. And when the device is unfolded, the Cover Display will turn off and go black.

When the device is unfolded the Main Display, the bigger screen you will see, will be 7.3 inches and has a 4.2:3 aspect ratio and the resolution will be 1536×2152 with a screen density of 420 dpi.

Flipboard, a company that has been working together with Samsung for years showed off an app they have been working on for Samsung’s foldable phone. Claus Enevoldsen, Flipboard’s marketing executive, demonstrated it and when closed, you’ll see a similar smartphone version of a single pane of information in the Flipboard app.

“We want to lean in and take advantage of everything possible with this form factor,” Enevoldsen said.